The interesting story of Mars

I found a nice narrated documentary clip about Mars that is quite interesting: it tries to prove that Mars was much like our Earth in the past, until a major catastrophe, at least.

Stunning Theory: Expect a second ”sun” to be seen on the sky

Recently I’ve been reading some stories about getting a second ‘sun’ on the sky as soon as 2012( oh what a perfect date… is this supposed to fuel the theory of the end of the world? it is becoming increasingly ridiculous to correlate unusual natural phenomenons with a world end…

The ‘second sun’ will actually be a supernova explosion of Betelgeuse, one of the brightest and biggest stars in our vicinity. The resulting explosion will be so intense that it will outshine the moon.

Betelgeuse is only about 10 million years old(compare that to the 4 billion years of our sun), but because of its high mass it has rapidly consumed its hydrogen. This star is approaching a cataclysmic death, but scientists can’t be sure when it will happen. It can be today, or thousands of years in the future. So assigning 2012 as the date of this event is just a childish guess. Yes, it can happen then, although it’s highly improbable. And the explosion won’t damage our Earth’s ecosystems: it will just disrupt the normal day-night cycle for a couple of weeks. It’s all about observing a distant astronomical object (Betelgeuse is about 640 light years away form us- that means that the star may have already exploded!).

Here’s one of the blog posts about this I’ve read.

 

Related articles

• Blog – How Much Does Betelgeuse Weigh? (technologyreview.com)
• Supernova explosion will be visible from UK (guardian.co.uk)
• Neutrino fun facts! (scienceblogs.com)

Massive solar explosion

Well, there was a reason why today was unusually hot( seriously, it was hotter than most of the past days, all of a sudden).

I just came home and checked the news, found out that there was a massive explosion on the surface of the sun, an explosion the size of earth. Some news even associate this with the apocalypse… These guys from the news… they’ll do anything for the money *sigh*

Seriously though, my first thought of worry was directed to the satellites. But most of them were probably shut down, and hey, don’t forget: Earth has a powerful electromagnetic shield. Although it’s a bit hotter than the other days, you don’t have to worry for an apocalypse…

My opinion about the apocalypse is this: it will come very suddenly, we won’t even be announced of it.

So stop worrying about stupid things, use your logic mind and try to be a nice person with everybody. Enjoy your life!

What YOU can do to avoid global warming?

After I’ve exposed the ugliness of global warming, it’s time to expose some methods that everyone of us can participate with at the reduction of pollution. Most of them are indirect methods, because probably the most pollution an average human can do is through garbage, putting plastics on fire or with vehicles.

This is not only about you, if you read this article, spread the word! Everyone should know about this. Be responsible, talk about it!

Step 1 – Have an environment friendly vehicle

Although not everyone can afford a hybrid vehicle, most of us can help our car produce less CO2 and other polluting gases:

• If distances are small, walk or ride your bike. Obvious right? It’s even good for your body, helps you to stay fit.
• If you need to go long distances, use the public transport when possible: trains, buses, etc.
• Have your tires optimally inflated. If they are under-inflated your car will consume much more fuel than usual.
• Accelerate gradually and keep your speed under the speed limit. You’re not racing for prizes anyway .
• Maintain your car engine: go to a car service from time to time, or if you know yourself to fix things in a car, maintain it yourself!(oil replacing, air filter replacing… things like that) An engine that runs smooth will consume less fuel .
• If you’re one of those lucky guys with a big budget, you should invest in an environment friendly car. You know, one of those hybrid cars, electric cars or fuel cell cars(that run o hydrogen).

Step 2 – Consume less energy

If people consume less electric energy, power plants like the ones that use coal won’t be forced to consume(and inevitably polluting the air) that much fuel anymore. Not only it is environmentally friendly, but it also reduces the bill.

• Turn off the lights when nobody is in the room. Even better, use light sensors to detect the presence of somebody.
• Use CFL(compact fluorescent lamp) lights instead of normal ones. It saves a lot of energy and money. Even though a CFL has a higher purchase price than an incandescent lamp, but can save over 30 US$ in electricity costs over the lamp’s life time. Furthermore, it has increased lifetime. But if you want to be even more energy efficient when it comes to light, you can buy LED light bulbs. These ones can be expected to last almost 30 years under normal use!
• Use energy-efficient home appliances.
• Adjust the power saving schemes on your computer so it goes in a power-saving mode quicker. Put it on standby if you go out for  a while. Don’t leave it on if you don’t use it!
• Again, if you have a bigger budget and leave in a house, invest in some solar panels. It helps reduce the power consumption a lot in sunny days.
• Insulate your home- that way you don’t have to waste a lot of energy through heating or cooling.
• Take those showers faster. I know you enjoy staying in the water, but for cleaning yourself you don’t have to take a 20 minute shower!
• Use hot water only when it’s necessary. If possible, buy cold water detergents for you washing machine.

Step 3 – Other things to keep in mind

• Recycle materials\products that are recyclable: place them in the appropriate bins.
• If you leave at a house and have a big garden, plant trees. Participate in planting trees activities if possible.
• Don’t ever put plastic materials on fire for fast cleaning. It’s the worst enemy of breathable air.
• Spread the word- Not everyone is interested in this subject, and even though you consider having an internet connection a normal thing, lots of people don’t enjoy this comfort. Act now! Talk about it.

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As you can see, there are a lot of things you can do for a better Earth. It’s much more important if we do it together. Remember the article with the phytoplankton? The oxygen production of one so small plant is extremely unimportant. But they participate in large numbers, that’s why they produce those massive amounts of oxygen and trap a lot of CO2 from the atmosphere too. Like them, if we participate together the effects will be visible: we will breath healthy air and Earth will thrive of life. We will also reduce desertification.

Earth Hour

Eu o sa sting lumina .